The long and short and good and bad and happy and sad of it

Our girls on the day after Thanksgiving. L to R Audrey, Stephanie, Erica.
OK here's what happened to the pirate at the end of November.
First -- basically throughout October -- I was overtaken by our decision to remodel our upstairs (guest) bath.
It has needed it for at least fifteen years. And I am being generous.
You know how it is.
The money! The dust! The inconvenience! The money!
But TG has a great friend who is a contractor and they bartered for the labor and that's something -- it's a lot, actually. For my part, I was tasked with choosing and ordering all of the things.
To include flooring, vanity, mirror, lighting, commode ... and then the various decorator touches such as paint color and accessories.
Dagny chose the little fox for our fall table
And when I say accessories, I mean shower curtain, tension rod and new rings for said curtain, rugs, switchplate covers, trash can, tissue box cover, towel ring, TP storage, wall art, et cetera. It's a lot to take in.
I was consumed. I believe I have thought of everything. It is all here, ready to be installed. I can't wait for you to see my little chandeliers. I hope they don't look stupid. Please join me in praying that they look like a genius who reads Architectural Digest for fun, thought to hang them there.
Then this morning, our contractor friend actually commenced the work, which must be done by Christmas week, when company begins to arrive.
As I told the girls via text a few hours ago, the thunderous sounds of demolition have rung throughout the house all day, and I am overjoyed. I'll show everything to you when the work is complete.
Then it was Thanksgiving. After all of the planning and shopping, we did gather and we did enjoy a pretty delicious meal prepared by the pirate, if even the pirate says so.
We had a 20-pound turkey roasted and crisped and browned to juicy perfection. Chad arrived just in time to carve said bird, which is his specialty. At least as far as I'm concerned it is, because it means I don't have to do it.
Stephanie and Joel with L to R Andrew (9), Allissa (13), and Melanie (almost 17)
Alongside the turkey we had sweet potato casserole (Ruth's Chris recipe modified just a tad to short the sugar and butter and add a few marshmallows), Mom's broccoli casserole, crock pot creamed corn, mashed potatoes, my homemade cranberry sauce, Erica's tangy carrot-apple slaw, Sister Schubert's rolls, sparkling waters, coffee, and an assortment of pies and other sweets, including an apple cobbler that Audrey made from scratch.
We decided to eat at five since Cherica and baby Rhett were at Chad's parents' feast in the morning and so had a big lunch.
Even so, they could barely eat more than a few bites of everything. But it was good to have everyone at the table. Next year though, if I'm still on the green side of grass, we will eat earlier and let the stragglers have leftovers when they're good and ready.
It just seemed like a long day, standing around waiting for five o'clock.
Stephanie and Joel and the kids had arrived on Wednesday late afternoon, and we had made plans to all go out for Mexican food at Monterrey.
But our Joel was sick, had not even driven the miles from North Carolina but instead rested in the passenger seat while Stephanie drove, and yes there was awful traffic.
The kids' table overlooked the pool
No he did not have COVID; it was a simple case of the flu.
Flu still exists, you know! It's like a long-lost friend who calls you out of the blue to let you know he's still alive and kicking!
At any rate, Joel went straight to bed upon arrival while the rest of us went out for dinner, and the next day he felt much better. Not all well but no longer all sick either.
Meanwhile TG had already been suffering for about a week with a cold and cough -- the same one he gets every year at this time -- which as usual he just worked right through.
However, he was kind enough to give it to me because on Friday night, after we'd taken the family Christmas card pictures as is our day-after-Thanksgiving tradition, I developed a scratchy throat.
I'll spare you the details except to say, it morphed into bronchitis and I was out of commission from late Saturday through yesterday.
I cannot blog when I'm distracted, overwhelmed, or sick. It just doesn't work that way.
Audrey and Dagny (7)
And I'd be lying if I said I were now one hundred percent; I'm not. But I'm getting there.
And no I did not/do not have COVID -- not Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, or Mu. (The Nu variant name was skipped because it is pronounced “new” and that would have led to confusion. Xi is skipped because of China. That gets us to Omicron, the latest variant -- and neither did TG.
Do yourself a favor and read the short article that I've linked to above.
If you have more time, read this fascinating article that Audrey sent me this morning. I'll be reading the book.
And now it's Christmas! I have been so overwhelmed by the thought of putting up the tree that I have actually dreaded it.
So I embraced manageable change. Instead of the seven-foot pencil tree I bought (and hate) a few years ago to replace another not-quite-so-pencilly pencil tree (which I did hate but which I now miss) that I'd been using since 2002, I bought a five-foot flocked pre-lit tree that I have placed on a table in the front window.
Not as daunting and I don't have to add a single light. At least not this year. We all know they won't light up again next year. Let's just hope they make it to December 31st of this year.
Early in the day, Allissa helped me set the table
Tomorrow night Chad is coming over to help TG move some things around in the house and get the heavy Christmas bins down from the attic.
On Saturday I'll put out/up all the decorations I can stand to deal with.
It's not that I don't have the Christmas spirit; I do. The spirit is willing as always, but the flesh is weak as it tends to be when you have to pause every ten seconds and do a convincing imitation of coughing up a lung.
Andrew and Brittany couldn't leave Oklahoma for Thanksgiving but Brittany's mother flew out to spend several days with them. They will be here after Christmas to have (third) Christmas with us.
First Christmas will be on the 20th when Stephanie and Joel return for our family presents-opening time with them. The next day our Melly will turn 17 and we will have a separate party for that.
Second Christmas will be on actual Christmas. Audrey and Dagny always spend Christmas Eve night with us so we can all be together on Christmas morning.
Erica, Chad, and Baby Rhett (4 months)
This year, what with that swanky new guest bath, I may have to crowbar them out in time for Third Christmas, when Andrew, Brittany, and Ember will drive up from Florida where they are spending actual Christmas at the home of her grandparents, with the rest of her family.
Mercy! I think I need to lie down.
As I mentioned, the day after Thanksgiving, for the past several years we have gathered at a predetermined scenic spot chosen by me (although I had help from Erica this year with deciding on Guignard Park in West Columbia), to take the Christmas card pictures of the girls' families.
It was a trifle chilly and windy but we got it done and I think everyone is happy with the result.
Audrey did take a few shots of TG and me but naturally I am unhappy with the result and we will be doing retakes any day now.
In addition to all of the above, we have had many days of exhilarating joy in the face of the unlikely mixed with exhausting sorrow in the face of the inevitable.
The weather was perfect
That's because also on the day after Thanksgiving, my niece Joanna (my sister's youngest), who lives with her husband, Jacob, and two-year-old son Freddy in Cleveland, Ohio, experienced the loss of her baby son, Noah.
Noah was diagnosed in the womb with Trisomy 13 and was not expected to live even long enough to be born.
But God gave Jacob and Joanna forty-two days with Noah, during which time everyone who met and knew him fell head-over-heels in love with him.
Noah's funeral was held today. It is heartbreaking but as his own mother wrote, every day for Noah was a struggle, and now that struggle is over.
My sister, Kay, wrote a few days ago in a text to me that while Jacob and Joanna were at the funeral home making arrangements, she put away Noah's bassinet and all of his little things. She cried the whole time.
If you like, you may view his Find A Grave page here. And I know that all the family would appreciate your prayers during this Christmas season.
Jacob placing his son's casket. Joanna approaching with flowers.
It's still warm in South Carolina -- not the least bit Christmasy IMO. Well into the seventies for daytime highs over the next several days. It's unusual for December and, I admit, exasperating. I don't even particularly like winter but I do like a break from our customary heat and humidity.
I have turned our furnace on a couple of times, just to knock off the chill, upon which I turn it back off. A few nights, temps got down into the high twenties and low thirties, but overnight lows are back up into the forties and even fifties for now.
I would rather add a layer than strangle on heat pouring out of the registers.
So when you come to see me (summer or winter), bring some socks (if you forget, I have eighty-two thousand pairs), and maybe a sweater.
We have plenty of blankies in case you forget all of the above in your haste to spend a few days hanging with the pirate.
And that is all for now except to say, Merry Christmas!
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Happy Thursday :: Happy December


Reader Comments (27)
We have a little fake tree with lights attached that we can sit on the hearth. Bob plugs it in and lights the fireplace first thing in the morning. We enjoy it in daylight and in dark. I gave half my Christmas decorations (a large collection of Santas) to a charity last year. I kept some beautiful ones my M-i-L gave us and some decorations that hold cherished memories. I'm glad not to have to deal with bins of decorations anymore! I hope you're feeling better by now and are energized by the holidays to come. I loved seeing the families and catching a glimpse of Rhett. Little Noah had a brief life and must now be held in the hearts of his family members. Sorrow and joy are woven together in our lives. Maybe we appreciate one more because of experiencing the other. Good luck with the renovation!
@Barb ... your Christmas tableau sounds charming! I have fully decorated now and did the minimum, and I really like it. I don't even have a lighted wreath on the door this year, because for the past two years the thing was acting funny and I don't feel like fooling with it. I feel great now and am cutting through all the gift buying and wrapping like a hot knife through soft butter. Yes little Noah will live on in the hearts of his family and of course we believe his soul is in heaven with God. And the sorrows will continue to come as this life is a vale of tears, but we have so many things that bring joy. It's all good. Renovation will be finished in less than a week! Hooray! xoxo